graphic card comparison

[final_thrill]

I'm going to buy one of these two video cards:

ATI 100-437807 Radeon X1950PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 CrossFire Video Card

or

Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800XT 512MB 2DVI/VIVO PCI-Express Video Card

It looks to me like the latter is better because all the specs are higher. The only problem is that it is an older card and it uses DDR3, whereas the first one uses GDDR3. So which one will perform better?

Thanks

 

[AMDThunder]

You picked the most expensive 1950Pro you could find. More money doesn't mean it's better.

Regardless, go with the X1950Pro. Look around abit though. Can be had for much cheaper. Looked through the VGA charts on Tom's, but it lists the X1800XT as a GDDR3 card, so I'm not sure if it's the same one you're looking at. Even if it were, for the price difference, the 1950 would give it a run for it's money.

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

The GDDR3 vs DDR3 difference, won't affect performance very much at all.

I'd got the X1950 personally, as ATI added a threaded dispatch shader which all the X1800 models lack. The 'summary' specs might not look at good on paper, but if you look at the full techdoc/whitepaper specs the X1950 stands out much more.

Of course, comparing them in Doom 3, Quake 4, Prey, Half-Life 2, etc would prob be the best idea.

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphics/index.html

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

Today the X1800 might be 5% faster in a few tests, in most the X1950 will be 10% faster. However in the long run - the next 4 years - the X1950 will be performing +80% faster than the X1800 under heavy loads.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=552&model2=607&chart=230

The above link is a good indicator of 'future software' trends, and shows the X1950 with a +80% advantage in more shader heavy apps.

Note: To run Obvlivion you'll likely want FSAA off on either card, which puts the X1950 in front. With FSAA enabled in Oblivion being the only test the X1800 will win on, just both will give unacceptable FSAA performance in that game anyway....

If money is a problem look at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102061

Sapphire varient of the same card, same X1950 Pro GPU, but costs much less.

You also need to remember that textures compress at 8:1 or so, using DXTC and S3TC, so having 512 MB video memory isn't all that important.

Sure it helps, but by the time you really need it you'll want to run med/med-high texture quality on this card anyway just to keep performance up - this will use less video memory down the track, and maybe run FSAA 2x/4x in some titles - bear in mind this is 18+ months from now I'm talking about.

The Sapphire Radeon X1950 Pro with 256 MB costs 2/3rd as much as the Connect 3D Radeon X1800 XT with 512 MB.

 

[final_thrill]

Thanks for the reccomendation guys, I'll ge the X1950

Thanks again!